DISCLAIMER : I do not own or I am affiliated with City of Heroes, NCSoft, or Cryptic. I only claim ownership of the idea and the characters in this story.
Chapter 1 : A Step Towards Fate
"An encounter with things from your past will force you to reconsider all you know."
Siro sat on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in Steel Canyon, those words ringing in his head. Meeting that fortune teller wasn't a coincidence, Siro thought, there are no coincidences. Siro stood up, shaking the thought from his head. Just drop it, Siro. He laid back and ran his fingers through his pure white hair, letting out a deep sigh. Standing up, he glanced down at the ledge below him, picking up a backpack that lay next to him, and he leapt off the building. He fell towards the ledge he was looking at, and as soon as his feet touched it, he gave a grunt and pushed off. He flew forward towards another building, and as soon as he touched that building, he pushed off of it in a sharp angle right towards another one. He kept zigzagging across the buildings. His goal was Icon, a place where heroes can go to fix and change their costumes. Once the store was in sight, he pushed off the last building, doing a forward flip before landing on one knee in front of the entrance doors. He heard a few of the civilians calling him a showoff. He just smiled and walked in.
"Siro! Welcome to Icon. How may we help you?" one of the store associates greeted him as soon as he entered. He glanced around the store, seeing only a couple of people in it.
"Uh, yeah. I kinda got a hole in these pants on a mission." He pulled a pair of pants out from the pack he was carrying. "Do you think they can be fixed?" The associate took the pants and looked at the hole.
"I'm sure we can," she stated, "I'll take these to the back. Have a look around the store and I'll come get you once we're done." Siro nodded and walked over to the section of the store where the gloves were kept. He wanted to get some gloves as his hands are starting to get very sore from wielding his swords all the time. He picked up a pair of sturdy, black leather gloves and tried them on. "These should work," he said out loud to himself.
"Talking to yourself, eh Siro?" He quickly turned around to see a woman standing behind him. She was just a little shorter then him, and had long brown hair. She was wearing a short white skirt, a tight white top that went up from her waist, and wrapped around her neck.
"Hey Katie! Didn't think I'd see you again this soon," Siro said, smiling.
"I just felt like a costume change," Katie said, "What do ya think?" She did a quick twirl.
"Very nice," Siro said, his voice cracking a little. Katie laughed,
"No ideas Siro, eyes up here," she said as she lifted Siro's chin up to meet her eyes. Siro never noticed how her eyes shine green in the light. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Katie turned her head.
"Well, stay out of trouble Siro. I'll catch ya later!" She said as she turned to leave the store.
Siro smiled, "Aren't you the one that got caught in over her head. Take care, Katie Rose." She gave him a dirty look as she walked out the doors.
Siro remembers he just met Katie last week. He was walking out of a building he was checking on for a contact when he heard some noise from an alleyway next to him. When he went to look, he saw a woman, in a blue top and blue pants, being held by the arm in the middle of a group of Hellions. As he walked towards them he could hear what they were saying.
"So, you thought you could just humiliate me yesterday? Let's show her how hot we like it boys," the big one holding her arm was the one talking. Siro drew the sword at his side and spoke up.
"Hey! Six against one isn't that fair. Can I join?" He said, smirking. The hellions turned around and picked up a couple bats.
"Stupid hero. Show him not to mess with us," the same one said. The other five started running towards Siro. He smiled and gripped his sword. The first one to reach him swung the bat down at Siro's head. Siro simply stepped to the side and sent his left fist into the guy's temple. Another was still charging at him, so Siro twisted around and landed his right foot right into the man's gut. Siro flipped his sword around, and hit the guy hard square in the nose with the blunt end. Yet another he hit with his left elbow, dropped the sword, slammed his right fist in the same spot, and grabbed the sword before it hit the ground. He swept the last one off his feet with his foot, bent up straight and slammed his fist into the guy's face as he fell, making him slam into the ground hard. The others just fell to the ground unconscious. All this took place within just a few seconds. The one holding the woman had a dumbfounded look on his face.
He tossed the woman to the side and ran saying, "I don't have time for this." Siro was about to give chase, when the guy slowed to a crawl. Suddenly, he flew forwards and crashed into the cement wall at the end of the alley. He fell from the wall into the dumpster below. The lid slammed shut as the woman stood up. "Back in the trash, where he belongs," she said as she turned to look at Siro.
"Thanks for the help. I'm Katie, Katie Rose. And you are?" She extended a hand and Siro shook it.
"I'm Siro, and I'm guessing you didn't really need my help." Katie just laughed.
"I got into a little trouble, nothing too bad though."
Siro just smiled, "I'm late for an appointment, but maybe I'll see ya around sometime."
Katie nodded and smiled, "Just maybe, Cya sometime Siro."
"Same to you," he said, "take care of yourself."
"Siro! I have you order ready. Please come over here to finish up," said the store associate as Siro was browsing through some sunglasses.
He walked over to the counter and laid down his gloves, "I'll need these too." The woman picked up the gloves and typed something off of the tags on them and into the computer.
"Alright, your total comes to $24.67," she said. Siro dug around in his pack and pulled out a small card.
"I have this. A contact passed it on to me," he handed the card to the woman.
"Ok, One free Icon purchase. No charge then Siro. Do you need a bag?"
Siro smiled, "No thanks," he said as he put the pants and gloves into his pack. He turned and started walking out of the store. Right as he opened the door, he turned back to the woman, "Oh, could I add a pair of sunglasses to this?"
He slung the backpack onto his back as he walked out the store. He put the pair of sunglasses on right as his phone rang. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out,
"Hello...Yeah... Alright, on my way now." He shoved the phone back into his pocket, bent his knees, and jumped high into the air. He was heading towards Skyway City. I wonder what Lorenzo wants this time, he thought. It didn't take but a few moments until he was at the tram.
Once in Skyway, Siro dashed off and landed on an overpass right above his contact. He turned his back to the edge and raised his arms out to the side. He did a back flip off, twisting around as he fell and landed on his feet right next to Lorenzo.
Lorenzo turned around, shocked, but not surprised. "Siro, we have no time for you to show off," he said. Siro lowered his head a little.
"I'm sorry. What's so urgent?" Lorenzo just laughed.
"Its cool man. In fact, I should be used to it. Anyway, a friend of mine high up asked specifically for you. His name is Unai. I have no idea why he wanted you, because normally, he only has missions that high ranking heroes can handle."
Siro was a little stumped, "What's the mission?"
Lorenzo just shook his head, "Unai wouldn't tell me. He was acting very odd. He told me to get you there ASAP. He's at Portal Corp. You know, on Peregrine Island?" Siro nodded. He's never been there, but he knows where it is.
"Just watch yourself over there Siro. Peregrine can get pretty dangerous. Take this with you." He pulled out a ring and handed it to Siro.
"The people over at DATA call that a 'Hyper' ring. It scrambles your molecules to make you intangible. You can't be hurt, but you won't be able to touch anything either." Siro looked at the ring. It was a little bulky, and a big black stone in the middle. The stone was loose.
"Push down on that stone to activate it," Lorenzo explained, "Now it's only good for 30 minutes. After that the battery dies. Just give it back to me soon, I promised to have it back by now." Siro nodded and took his pack off.
"Could you hold onto this for me?" Siro asked. Lorenzo nodded at Siro and waved him off.
"Just remember; A hero with your rank wouldn't even be thought of. Take it as an honor. Now get going. Unai wants you there yesterday!" Siro laughed and jumped off, heading for Peregrine.
After the tram arrived in Talos Island, and leapt high into the air, heading north. Landing in front of the ferry to Peregrine, Siro glanced over both of his shoulders. He felt as if he was being followed, even though he didn't see anyone. He took a deep breath in, shrugging off the thought. As he stepped onto the ferry, the gate was lowered behind him. It seems he made it just in time. Siro walked over to the railing of the ferry as it left. He watched as the waves came crashing into the side of the ship. He could also see some of the fish swimming along side of the ship. This was the most relaxed he's been since he came to Paragon two years ago. Countless leads took him all over Paragon searching for his missing parents, but it always led to a dead end. It felt like someone was keeping him away. He took a deep breath, but he got an eerie feeling in his stomach. It was the same feeling he was getting on his way here. He could swear there was someone following him. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt someone tugging at his pant leg. He looked down to see a small girl about seven years old, with blonde hair in a blue shirt and jeans.
"Mr. Siro, could I please have your autograph?" She said, blushing. Siro smiled and took the paper and pen she was holding up.
"Of course you can, what's your name?" She turned bright red.
"I'm Emily" Siro began writing on the paper.
To Emily, may the heroes help keep you safe. From Siro
He handed the paper back to her and she smiled real big, saying "Thank you." She rushed to her parents and showed off the autograph. Siro just smiled, nodded at them, and turned back around.
As the ferry approached the dock, Siro was amazed how the small island was highly populated. He stepped off as the ferry docked, and leapt off in the direction of Portal Corp. Leaping from building to building, Siro saw some heroes that he's seen on the news. He wanted to go down and introduce himself, but he knew he had a mission to get to. He landed on a very tall building towards the north end of the island. He looked down and could see three huge, white buildings arranged in a square. Portal Corp, he thought to himself. He's heard rumors of this place, of all the different worlds this place can connect to. He took a few steps back, ran forward and pushed off at the last second, leaping towards the middle of the buildings. He landed in front of a dark skinned man next to the Portal Corp sign.
"Unai? Hey, I'm..."
"Siro, yes I know," Unai said, a harshness in his voice. "You sure took your time getting here." Siro frowned some.
"I'm here now, what's the situation?" Unai wouldn't look Siro in the eyes.
"Just listen. The scientists will brief you of the situation. The building behind me, go inside it. Walk through the metal detector, into the elevator, and go to sub floor 3. Walk down the hallway to your left, and the scientists are at the bottom in front of the portal."
Siro nodded, "Alright, but why so..."
"Go now, Siro!!" Unai yelled and Siro hurriedly walked off behind him. What an asshole, he thought. He was just about to run inside the building when, out of the corner of his eye, Siro saw a hero approach Unai. Unai smiled and shook the hero's hand, and happily talked with the hero. Siro reached up and squeezed the hilt of his sword. ...The hell?? Just because I'm not a high rank? That stupid son of ... Siro took a deep breath, a little surprised about the thoughts going through his head. He watched as the other hero nodded, looked at the building Siro was headed to, and he flew towards it.
As the hero passed Siro, he raised a hand and said "G'day hero!" Siro smiled and nodded saying, "Good day!" He just shrugged off the thought of Unai and headed into the building.
Inside the building it was very clean. There were a few chairs along the walls, and leading to the elevator was a big metal detector with a woman in a lab coat sitting by a computer. When Siro walked through the metal detector, an alarm went off. The woman stood up and asked for an ID. Siro handed over his hero ID. She took it and started typing on the computer. Siro just stood there looking patiently around the room as the woman moved slowly along. After a few minutes, the woman handed the ID back and smiled saying, "Have a safe trip Siro." He smiled back at her and nodded, sticking the ID back into his pocket. Walking towards the elevator, he could faintly hear the woman pick up the phone and say what he could have sworn was, "He's here."
When the elevator stopped, Siro took a deep breath and walked out. The hallway was pretty big. There were a few other heroes talking as they walked past him and into the elevator. He turned to the left and walked down that hallway. His jaw dropped when he entered the room. It was huge. There was a giant machine along the back wall with parts on it spinning incredibly fast. In the center of the machine, it looked like there was a rip in the dimension. That must be the portal, he thought. When he started walking down the ramp, a scientist was walking towards him. Siro swallowed hard. No turning back now...
"Siro!! You got here just in time. We were about to give up and send someone else in," the scientist said as he saw Siro. "Follow me." Siro nodded and walked closely behind him.
"So, what's the situation?" Siro asked, desperately wanting to find out.
"A big one," the man said as other scientists gathered around Siro. They checked his blood pressure, pricked his finger to take a small blood sample, and one scientists was scanning Siro with this small metallic object.
The scientist continued, "One of our top scientists went missing in a dead world." Siro looked at the man, confused. The scientist saw Siro's face and laughed, "Alright. A 'dead' world is a dimension that we found no life at all in. But, our scientist suddenly just disappeared. We still have a reading of her vital signs, and they're OK, but we can't find her. Her name is Kayla." Siro thought about it a second. He knew why he was chosen. A higher-ranking hero couldn't be bothered for a simple hunt, especially in a non-dangerous world.
"So you want me to go in and find her? If this is just a 'dead' world, why the hell can't you send a team of your people in and find her?"
The scientist frowned, "We asked for the help of a hero because, though the world may be dead, we're reading very strange signals coming from it. We asked Unai to call in a hero, and he said he had a perfect one."
Siro grew a little angrier, "So, just because it's a hunt in a dead world, why not send in a low-rank hero just in case? Seems like the higher heroes just didn't want to be bothered."
The scientist picked up a chart and looked at it, "Yes, we are shocked just like you. Listen, we didn't hand pick you for this, so don't take it out on us. Can we just deal with finding Kayla?" Siro lowered his head.
"Yes, I'm sorry, just a little frustrated...How long has she been missing?" He lifted up a piece of paper.
"About two hours and twenty-seven minutes." Siro turned and walked towards the portal, stopping right before he entered it. The scientist followed him.
"OK, we're giving you 3 hours. If you're not back by then, we're sending in a whole team of heroes to find you." Siro smirked and turned towards the portal again.
"I just need one hour" He walked in.
The feeling was indescribable. It felt like his very molecules were being torn apart, yet he was numb. He was still conscious, but he could see all around him. He ever swore his own head was floating around, detached from his body.
Once through the other side of the portal, Siro landed face first on the ground with a hard thud. As he pushed himself onto his knees, he shook his head side to side. Wow...That felt...Odd, he thought. Once he got to his feet, he took a look around.
"Dead" didn't hardly describe the place. There were very tall buildings, but they looked extremely old and trashed, with sections missing from them. Many of them were even leaning at sharp angles, looking as if they could fall any second. The whole place was also flooded. Bits of the roads and highway would stick out above the water. Siro started walking down the road he was on, looking for clues. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some papers floating in the water next to the portal. He jumped into the water and examined them. They were very fragile, and most of the ink that was on them was running off. As he studied the papers, he saw the same symbol of each of them; the Portal Corp insignia. He leapt out of the water, found a good-sized rock to wrap the papers around, and tossed them back through the portal. They just might want those back, he thought.
Siro felt sick at his stomach suddenly. He glanced up at one of the buildings, bent his knees, and quickly leapt to the top of it. He looked around quickly on the roof, dead sure he saw something. He drew out both of his swords.
"Dead world my ass...I can feel it," he said outloud. Siro jumped into the air, turning around to face the building as he fell. He landed on his feet and leapt backwards. He stopped and looked back up to the top of the building and his eyes widened. There was a figure on the edge of the building, staring down at him. He bent his knees again, and leapt high into the air. He soared above the figure, which just stood there calmly. He landed on the opposite side of the roof and faced the man, who kept his back turned towards Siro. He could make out some details about the man. He had very long white hair, which flowed into the wind. He had a black baggy shirt on, that had a hood attached to the back of it. The pants were black and baggy as well, though they were tattered. Through the holes, you could see the man's pale white skin. Siro was just about to ask who he is, when the man spoke up.
"The world has grown cold, but I could feel your warmth," he said with a deep voice. "You are not from this plane, who are you?"
Siro was nervous, but he spoke up, "My name is Siro. All I want here is a woman who is lost. I don't wish to fight."
The man still faced off the roof, into the lifeless world, "The scientist?" he said, "She was taken by the one who came before you."
Siro was stumped, "Excuse me? 'The one before me'? I came alone."
The man spoke up again, "So...That's what you think?... I see it now. It's all happening like I remember." Siro gave up on trying to figure out what this man is saying.
"Can you tell me where she is?" Siro asked. "She'll be dead by the time you reach her...She was for me."
Siro was confused, but someone is dying. "Tell me where she is!!" he commanded.
"Two miles southeast, but you can't make it. It is fate" Siro ignored him and dashed off.
Two miles was just a couple of full speed leaps to Siro. He was moving so fast, the water didn't even ripple as he jumped off of it. He approached another piece of land sticking out above the water.
"It's been about two miles. That must be it." He landed on one of the roads and started yelling out "Kayla!!" Siro saw the man standing next to the corner of a building. He ignored the thought of how the man got there before him and ran to his side. He froze as soon as he reached the building. There was Kayla, pinned to the side of the building like a poster on a wall. It was a long thin blade sticking out from her chest that was holding her up.
Siro walked over to her and yanked out the sword, dropping it and catching her body. She was limp as he laid her onto the ground. He checked for a pulse, but slammed his fist into the ground as he felt nothing. "Damnit!!!" he yelled out loud.
The man spoke up, "This sight haunts me every time. A helpless person murdered for what?" Siro glared over at him.
"For fate…It's a cruel game." Confused, Siro turned and looked the man right in his eyes. He nearly fell backwards as he caught his first real sight of the man. He looked exactly like Siro!!
"You want to know the worse part of all this?" the older Siro said, "It's all just a part of a big plot." Siro got back on his feet, and pointed a sword right at the man.
"Okay." He took a deep breath. "Who are you and WHAT the HELL is going on?!" The man turned away from Siro, facing the dead world.
"I am you, Siro. And behold, this is the power we hold!!" He raised his arms to the sky, stretching out like he was going to touch the sky. Siro stood motionless.
"This world is yours."
Siro just blinked, "What do you mean? What power are you talking about, and what happened here?" The older one lowered his hands and turned to face Siro.
"Very soon your future will be set. A choice you will make will destroy your world, as it did mine."
Siro was getting frustrated, "How can I do ANYTHING like this?" The man tried to hide a slight smile.
"With the power that resides in you. Don't you see Siro? You're much different than you think, and very soon you will learn exactly what power you have." Siro started clinching his fists.
"I'm in control of my future, and I won't let this happen."
The man's smile turned into a frown, "it's already begun. It's all happening like I was told." Suddenly the man to called his sword, the same one that had Kayla pinned to the wall. He grasped it as he touched his hands.
"Forgive me Siro, I must fulfill my destiny." He raised the sword up and pointed it at Siro. Siro just turned to pick up Kayla's body. He held her in his arms as the man approached.
"Fight me!" Siro walked to the edge of the island, just turning his head to speak to the guy.
"I choose not to fight you. There's always a choice." The man got angry and made a small slice in Siro's back, just enough to cut his shirt and leave a tiny red line.
"Siro, you will fight me." Siro turned to face him, laying Kayla over one shoulder.
"You're blinded by fate. One thing I've learned over the years is that nothing goes as planned. If you're truly me, come back with me. Redeem yourself and enjoy using you powers for good as I do now."
The man laughed, "I was Siro. I was one of the greatest heroes in Paragon. You see, your choices you will make will devastate the world!"
Siro was stumped, "I thought it was destroyed because you wanted it to be." The man could hardly contain himself.
"And you call me blinded? Siro, Siro…You can't escape Fate, no one can." He raises his sword and points it back at Siro, "So draw your sword and let us complete MY destiny!"
Siro turned back towards the water, "Your destiny is what you make it. I'm in control and I will NEVER allow this to happen. Good-bye, and enjoy your life on this deserted world." Siro leapt off towards the portal at full speed. Many thoughts were going through his head at the moment. Can I really be this powerful? That man was me, is this an alternate dimension, or a possible future? Whatever it is, this will NOT come true.
Siro landed in front of the portal and was just about to walk into it, when the man landed right behind him and yelled, "Siro! You can't run from destiny. Fight me, for I am the one who killed your parents!"
Kayla's body dropped to the ground and Siro faced the man, a look of complete anger in his eyes.